Both Russia and NATO have been increasing their readiness across Eastern Europe. In the latest escalation of tensions, Russia has re-manned some of the Soviet Union’s old bunkers along the southern coast of Crimea.

Formerly the bunkers were a location for visiting by tourists, who were charged $50 each, according to the U.K. Daily Mail.

According to locals, the bunkers known as “Location 100” are now surrounded by signs saying the area is now a “forbidden zone of the Russian Ministry of Defense.”

“It is a functioning military base with an anti-ship missile system,” one of the villagers told a Reuters reporter.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has expressed concern about a resumption of hostilities. “We have, in effect, slid into a new Cold War,” he said at a security conference in Munich in February of this year.

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Recall that the West won the first Cold War. We gained something referred to as deterrence. In essence, countries feared taking malicious action because they knew American firepower might get involved.

Although any red-blooded conservative should balk at the thought of Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton taking office, it is likely that even she would be more hawkish than our current commander in chief.

However, GOP nominee Donald Trump is pretty clearly a far better option for the strategic easing of tensions, and for negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin.